'Trump of the East' Rodrigo Duterte Poised to Become 16th PH President

Davao City Mayor Rodrigo "Rody" Duterte called as the "Trump of the East" is poised to become the 16th president of the Philippines. This is due to the partial and unofficial vote count results which foretell that Duterte will win the 2016 presidential elections.

According to the partial and unofficial results of the Philippine presidential race, southern Davao City Mayor Rodrigo "Rody" Duterte has garnered more than 15 million votes based on the 92.67% of 92.509 clustered precincts counted on Monday, May 9's elections.The nearest among his four main opponents is former Interior Senator Manuel "Mar" Roxas, grandson of former president Manuel Roxas, who has garnered over 9 million votes, Philippine Star reports.

The 71-year-old former prosecutor has won the hearts of the Filipinos and millenials due to his hardline pledges of eradicating crimes nationwide within a short span of 6 months by killing the suspects in no time. He also promised to root out political corrupts and diminish poverty which is the country's ills in the recent years.

Duterte is internationally known as the "Trump of the East" due to his brash-talking and offensive comments during his campaign. Some of his comments even go the below the belt including the gang-rape joke of Aussie missionary Jacqueline Hamill and the series of Viagra-fueled sexual exploits. This in turn led to the comparison of Duterte with frontrunner Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, GMA Network has cited.

Despite of being the frontrunner, Inquirer has learned that current president Benigno "NoyNoy" Aquino III even discouraged Filipinos from voting Duterte this coming elections. This is because PNoy fears that the mayor may put the country's democratic state in jeopardy and squander the economy's status over the last 6 years.

The Philippine economy allegedly gain 6.2% under the Koalisyon ng Daang Matuwid (Coalition of the Straight Path), which is considered as one of the best rates across Asia. The final tallying of votes and the declaration of the next Philippine president is expected to be made official this Tuesday, May 10.